


corres-paw-ndence

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes, bucky has a heart, dummy is a cat, like text messaging but with more cats, matchmaker dummy, pet messaging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23423683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: The first time Bucky saw the cat, he thought he was hallucinating.He didn’t own a cat; he was more of a dog person, really. And he’d definitely never get a cat that looked like it was on death’s door after being run over by an eighteen-wheeler.But there was a snaggletoothed ball of grey fur sitting on Bucky’s windowsill, licking his paw like he had not a care in the world. And he was definitely not Bucky’s cat.
Relationships: Dummy (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Dummy (Iron Man movies), James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 674
Collections: Rendys cats stories





	corres-paw-ndence

**Author's Note:**

> me, dropping by after more than a month with a fic and disappearing again into the ether? more likely thank youd think!
> 
> enjoy :))

The first time Bucky saw the cat, he thought he was hallucinating. 

He didn’t own a cat; he was more of a dog person, really. And he’d definitely never get a cat that looked like it was on death’s door after being run over by an eighteen-wheeler.

But there was a snaggletoothed ball of grey fur sitting on Bucky’s windowsill, licking his paw like he had not a care in the world. And he was definitely not Bucky’s cat.

“Hey, buddy,” Bucky said cautiously, hands held out non threateningly. “Where did you come from?”

The cat, predictably, didn’t answer. He didn’t even startle, just raised his head to glare with lantern yellow eyes before returning to his paw. Bucky took a few steps closer when it was clear the cat wasn’t going anywhere, eyes scanning for a collar in the mass of fur. He spotted one, a red and gold thing with a dangling tag, and reached out to snag it.

The cat sprang into action, slashing his hand open with an angry yowl.

“Fuck!” Bucky cursed and clutched his bleeding finger. “I get it. No touching the neck. Anything else, your highness?”

The cat let out a self-satisfied chirp and swished his tail. He butted his head against Bucky’s hand in apology, and it was instinct for Bucky to scratch behind the cat’s ears. Luckily, the cat didn’t attack him again. 

“You’re a little bastard, aren’t you?” asked Bucky, voice tinged with fondness. He was starting to see the merits of cats with the admittedly adorable animal purring happily under his fingers (but he was definitely still a dog person. Cats were _assholes_ ). “Chill here a sec, I’ll get you something to eat. Then we can go about finding your owner, okay?”

The cat meowed in what Bucky decided to take as agreement. He walked into the kitchen to search for something that a cat could eat. In the back of his cabinet, Bucky spied a forgotten can of tuna and nabbed it. 

“Cats like tuna, right?” he wondered aloud. He cracked open the can, hoping to tempt the cat into the kitchen. “I feel like that’s a thing cats like.” Bucky waited a second, but the cat didn’t come any closer. “Cat! C’mon, food!”

After another couple seconds, Bucky started to worry. The cat was probably ripping up his sofa, or something. With cats, silence was deadly. He walked back into the living room, only to find it empty. The window was slightly open, just enough that he supposed a small animal could fit through.

The cat was gone, like it had never been there in the first place. Were it not for his still-bleeding hand, Bucky would have thought he imagined the whole thing.

He put the can of tuna down with a defeated sigh. Cats were _assholes_.

\---

The fifth time he saw the cat wasn’t much better. Bucky was _certain_ he’d closed the window this time, but since the only other option was that the cat had opened it himself, Bucky figured he must have forgotten. The cat- now creatively called _Cat_ \- was perched on the arm of his sofa, glaring at either Bucky or the wall. It was hard to tell, what with Cat’s eyes going in two different directions. 

“Welcome back,” Bucky greeted tiredly. He was exhausted from a twelve-hour shift at work; frankly, Cat could do whatever he wanted, provided he didn’t interrupt Bucky’s nap. “Don’t murder me in my sleep, please. That seems like a cat thing to do.”

Cat meowed in agreement. He jumped off of the sofa, landing clumsily on his feet and coming to rub against Bucky’s legs. His fur was slightly damp where Bucky reached down to pet him. 

Bucky frowned, looking out the window. “Oh, you got stuck in the rain, didn’t you buddy?” he asked, padding over to close the open glass. “You can go home when it stops, okay? I wouldn’t want you getting soaked.”

Cat purred and hopped back onto the sofa. It was somewhat comical to watch him struggle to scramble up, but he managed. Bucky sat down next to him, grabbing a pillow and a blanket from where they had been thrown last time he’d taken a nap on the couch. Yawning widely, he put his head down and closed his eyes. He barely registered when Cat clambered onto his chest, purring like a monster truck, not even when Cat flicked his tail right in Bucky’s face. 

What the hell, Bucky decided. As long as Cat didn’t wake him, he could do whatever his little feline heart desired. Dealing with the animal was an after-nap issue.

Bucky woke up several hours later, spitting fur out of his mouth. Cat had migrated to sleeping directly on his face, snoring like a jet engine. Cats were _bastards_. 

“C’mon, budge over,” Bucky groaned, picking Cat up and moving him, despite his yowls of protest. “If you stop squirming, I’ll get you some tuna before I send you on your way.”

Cat stilled completely. Bucky could’ve sworn that Cat was giving him innocent eyes. On Cat, of course, they looked somewhat demented, but the sentiment was there. He was cute, in a bizarre, almost freakish way, realized Bucky. He smiled to himself as he walked over to the kitchen.

He’d stocked up on tuna on his last grocery trip, completely by coincidence, of course. It had nothing to do with him being lonely and hoping to see the strange cat again, if only for the temporary companionship. He just really enjoyed tuna sandwiches.

Opening a can, Bucky clicked his tongue to summon Cat. “Here, kitty!” he called, setting the can on the floor. Cat bolted in, his claws clicking against the tile. He looked a little like the monster under the bed, complete with a thick coat of dust bunnies and glowing yellow eyes, but he was purring cutely and Bucky’s heart melted a little bit.

“You’ve gotta be getting home, don’t you?” he asked, crouching down to scratch behind Cat’s ear. “Your owner is going to be worried about you.”

Cat didn’t look up from where his face was completely buried in the tuna can. Bucky was a little worried that his head was stuck. 

“Here, let me write you a quick note,” he decided. Cat swished his tail in what Bucky figured was as close to acceptance as he was going to get. Pulling open a random drawer, Bucky grabbed a pen, testing it on his hand to see if it worked. He uncapped the pen with his teeth, fumbling for a piece of scrap paper with the other hand. With a victorious cheer, he set the pen to the back of an old receipt.

_Dear cat owner,_ he wrote. _Your cat keeps showing up in my apartment. It was raining, so I let him crash here for a bit. Then I gave him tuna and sent him on his way. I hope he’s not allergic. Sincerely, the non-cat owner in Apartment 31B._

Satisfied, he tucked the note into Cat’s collar, narrowly avoiding the swipe of Cat’s claws. 

“Give that to your owner, will you?” he said, opening the window. Cat sniffed in his general direction, as either a thank you or an insult, before hopping out and disappearing into the night. 

Bucky was still for a moment. He thought about closing and locking his window. It would be better; no more random cat invasions, for one. In the end, he left it cracked and went off to get ready for bed.

\---

Bucky was starting to think that he should invest in a kitty door, if only to make it a little easier for Cat to sneak in. It wasn’t like Cat was going to stop coming, and he had to be having a hard time opening the window every time he visited. To be honest, Bucky still wasn’t sure how Cat was doing it. He also wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Cat was waiting for him on the sofa, shedding all over the place and generally being a nuisance. Bucky idly wondered if he was an overgrown lab rat, escaped from wherever the mutant rats were kept; he certainly had the face for it. Bucky padded over to pet him.

“Welcome back,” he said, scratching under Cat’s chin. His knuckles brushed against what felt like paper, and he saw a note tucked into Cat’s collar where he’d left his own a few days before. “Oh? Did you bring me something?”

Cat meowed happily, butting his head into Bucky’s hand for daring to stop petting him. Bucky shook his head, pulling out the note with one hand and continuing to rub behind Cat’s ears with the other. 

“High maintenance,” he muttered fondly, unfolding the note and reading it.

_Dear non-cat owner,_ it said. _Meet Dummy, professional bastard and the world’s worst cat. He has a habit of sneaking out of my apartment and causing trouble wherever he goes, so I’m sorry that he’s imprinted on you. It’s too late to stop him now._

_Some things you should know: he_ always _wants food. Even when he’s not actually hungry. He’s on a diet, please don’t feed him. Unless it’s a vegetable, because apparently he needs to eat more of those? Cats, you know how it is._

_Second, secure your valuables. Dummy knows what he did._

_Third, and this probably should have been first,_ yes, _his name is Dummy. He’ll respond to it three times out of ten. He’s a little bit terrible like that. It’s a long story as to how he actually got the name, but you don’t need to know it. Just know he’s a certified idiot._

_Oh, and thank you for taking care of my cat. I’ve tried to get him to stay inside, and he never does, so I’m glad he found someone who isn't going to, I don’t know, skin him and wear his fur as a coat. It’s a legitimate fear of mine; he has luscious fur!_

_Signed, the cat owner in 41B_

Bucky couldn’t help but to chuckle at the note writer’s words. He turned to Cat- no, _Dummy_ \- with a helpless grin.

“Well,” he said. “Guess that means no more tuna for you.”

Dummy whined plaintively and batted at Bucky’s hands with his sharp claws, as if in protest. Bucky drew his hand back with a yelp that he’d deny until his dying day.

“Don’t blame me!” he argued, glaring at Dummy. “It’s your owner’s fault. Why would a cat even be on a diet, anyway?”

Dummy rolled his eyes, like he was agreeing with Bucky’s firm anti-diet stance. Still glaring, Bucky ripped a sheet of paper off of the pad on the table next to Dummy. He had some questions for Dummy’s owner.

_Dear cat owner,_ he wrote, perhaps a little sharper than he needed to. _If your cat gores me again, you’re paying my hospital bills. I said “no more tuna,” and he said, “well, I guess you don’t need a hand anymore.” I’m currently bleeding out on the floor. Tell my family I love them, if I don’t make it._

_No, seriously. Why is Dummy on a diet? He looks normal-sized, for a hairball masquerading as a cat. I mean, I assume. I’ve never had a cat before. Anyway, sorry for giving him tuna._

_Is there a vegetable he actually likes? I should probably stock up, if he’s gonna keep showing up. Speaking of, can your damn cat open windows???_

_Sincerely, the non-cat owner_

Bucky tucked the note into Dummy’s collar. “You know where to take that,” he said, patting Dummy’s head. “If you deliver it successfully, I might even pick up cat treats when I’m at the store next.”

Dummy made no move to leave. Instead, he turned his lantern eyes on Bucky, spun once in a circle, and plopped down for a nap. He started snoring almost immediately, so Bucky figured there was no use trying to move him. 

Plus, and he’d never admit it, he liked having the cat around. The apartment was a little less lonely when it was filled with Dummy’s snoring, like the sound of a thousand jet engines all going at once. 

There was no harm in him staying a little longer, Bucky figured. He could go home after his nap. 

Bucky sat down on the sofa, careful not to disturb the sleeping Dummy. He gave the cat a fond pet, stroking his hand down Dummy’s spine, and just relaxed.

\---

Tony, as Bucky came to find out Dummy’s owner was named, was _hilarious_. His notes were filled with snarky jokes, and Bucky found himself looking forward to coming home from work in the evening just to read them. 

_Star Trek is shit,_ the most recent note read, and Bucky could just imagine the prim faux-offence, _and if you think that it’s better than Star Wars, I am taking my cat and fleeing the country. Seriously. I can’t live in close proximity to someone so grievously incorrect about something so important._

Bucky grinned, giving Dummy an absentminded pat while he considered what to write back. It had to be good; he wanted Tony to smile as much as he himself was. 

He was a little bit smitten with his upstairs neighbor, he could admit. The only problem was, well, Bucky had never actually met the guy. For all they lived in the same building, Bucky knew exactly none of his neighbors. His antisocial tendencies were coming back to bite him now, though.

“I don’t suppose you could introduce me to your owner, could you?” Bucky asked Dummy, who blinked those lantern eyes at him like he was an idiot. “No, I didn’t think so.”

Bucky sighed, running a hand through Dummy’s thick fur. He’d really played himself with the whole falling for a guy he’d never actually seen, let alone spoken to thing. Well, at this point, there wasn’t much to do except fall deeper, he supposed.

He picked up a pen and started to scribble out his reply.

\---

Bucky was surprised to find an empty apartment when he came home after work. He and Dummy had fallen into a routine as of late: Dummy would sneak in in some unspecified manner, nap on the couch, stay for a pre-dinner snack, and then disappear back out the window to go back to Tony. Sometimes, he even let Bucky pet him without scratching. But he wasn’t in his usual spot when Bucky stepped into the living room. 

“Dummy?” Bucky called, looking around for the cat. He was later than usual; maybe Dummy had already gone home? “You here, buddy?”

No reassuring meow greeted him. Bucky was starting to get a little worried, especially when he saw the windowsill devoid of the usual muddy footprints that marked Dummy’s entrance. He tried to convince himself that everything was fine- Dummy wasn’t even his cat, maybe he’d decided to stay home- but he couldn’t help but to feel a little anxious alone in the catless apartment. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

Bucky sat down on the sofa by himself, turning on the TV to try to take his mind off of the odd situation, but it was hard to relax without the literal noise machine of a cat that was usually right next to him. 

Idly, he wondered if he should go upstairs and see if Dummy was with Tony. But he shot that idea down immediately; it would be weird, he figured, to go to Tony’s apartment to ask him why his cat hadn’t decided to grace Bucky with his presence. He couldn’t do that without looking like a complete creep, and it would probably end with him never seeing Dummy or hearing from Tony again. So he stayed put on his sofa, even as unease churned in his gut.

A frantic knock on his door startled him out of his thoughts. 

WIth a groan, Bucky stood to answer it. He wasn’t expecting company, and he hadn’t ordered anything, so he was a little wary when he opened the door. 

“Have you seen my cat?” a voice was asking, almost before Bucky got the door open. “Please, Dummy’s run off and I can’t find him anywhere, _please_ tell me he’s here. He didn’t come home last night and now I’m freaking out and I know he comes here sometimes and--”

Bucky held up a hand to cut off the onslaught of words. He hadn’t been expecting such fast talking, and it took him a second to comprehend. “Wait, Dummy?” he asked finally. “You’re _Tony_?”

Tony looked _wrecked_ , his whiskey eyes red from crying. He had a messy flop of curls on his head and was, quite frankly, shorter than Bucky had expected. He felt like a terrible person for thinking that Tony had to be the most adorable man he’d ever seen, and he wanted to bundle him up in blankets and keep him safe forever.

“Yeah, I’m Tony, and you’re Bucky, and have you seen my cat?” Tony repeated, eyes pleading. He looked a little bit like Bambi.

Bucky shook his head. “He didn’t come to visit today,” he said apologetically. “I figured he’d decided to stay with you.”

“Oh my god, he’s been killed and eaten,” Tony’s voice was muffled from burying his face in his hands. “My dumbass cat has run away and gotten eaten. This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Doll, he hasn’t been eaten,” Bucky said, the nickname just slipping out as he tried to reassure the other man. “He probably just got lost. Hold on a second, let me grab my shoes, and I’ll come out and help you look for him.”

“Thank you,” Tony sniffled, wiping his face. “Ugh. I fucking hate crying. But I’ve had that idiot cat for so long, and I panicked, and…” He shrugged. “You know how it is.”

Bucky did not, in fact, know how it was, because he’d never actually owned a pet, but he made a sympathetic noise and put on his shoes as fast as he could. He was worried about Dummy, too, if he was being honest. That cat was poorly equipped to survive in the wild, where there were no people to yowl at until they fed him, or blankets to snuggle under and cover in cat hair, or…

Bucky cut off that train of thought before he could drive himself into a panic over Dummy’s utter lack of survival skills. 

“Come on,” he said to Tony instead, stepping out of his apartment and locking the door. “He’s probably just waiting outside the building, meowing to be let in.”

Tony laughed a little. “God, I hope not!” he said, leading them to the elevator. “His meow is so irritating that the other animals would eat him out of spite.”

“I dunno, I think he could scare them off,” Bucky couldn’t help but to smile. “All he’d have to do is look at them the wrong way and they’d go running.”

Tony put his hands on his hips. “Bucky, are you calling my cat ugly?”

“I wish I could lie, but you cat is the ugliest cat I’ve ever seen,” Bucky answered somberly. “Sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be!” Tony laughed with pure delight, and Bucky felt something odd in his chest that he didn’t want to acknowledge, no siree. “I always say that, and Pepper-- that’s my friend, she’s a dog person-- always says I’m being mean but, like, it’s true! And I don’t love him less for looking like an eldritch horror, or anything. But evolution truly failed when it made Dummy.”

“Honestly, he’s still a very cute cat,” Bucky shrugged, leaning forward to open the door to the building and hold it open for Tony. “He’s so ugly that he punches through the event horizon of ugly and becomes cute again.”

“That is so not how science works,” Tony shook his head, but it looked almost fond. “To make up for that egregious miscarriage of facts, help me find my cat.”

Bucky obliged with a smile, scanning the bushes around the building for the cat. “Dummy!” he called, hearing Tony doing the same a little further down the path. “Dummy, where are you?”

Bucky kept his ears open, but he didn’t hear Dummy’s distinctive yowl anywhere. He bent down, looking under the branches for any sign of grey fur. He refused to believe that Dummy wasn’t hiding somewhere; he didn’t want to think of what Tony would do if that were the case. He’d only known the man for ten minutes, but he already knew he never wanted to see Tony crying again.

“Come on, where are you, creature?” Bucky huffed, trying to catch a glimpse of lantern eyes staring back at him. He succeeded at scaring a rabbit, but there were no cats hidden in the bushes. 

“Have you found him?” Tony called, a dejected note in his voice. “I haven’t had any luck over here.”

“Not yet,” Bucky admitted, ducking down to look under a bench. “But we will, okay? Don’t give up yet.”

Tony’s sad little huff was enough to get Bucky looking again with renewed vigor. He just couldn’t see where Dummy could possibly be hiding. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was starting to lose hope. Dummy had been missing since last night; he could’ve gotten pretty far away. Judging by the speed at which he ran for treats, the cat could move fast when he wanted to.

Still, Bucky wasn’t ready to give up. “Dummy!” he shouted, ignoring the confused look of a jogger passing by. 

He perked up when he heard what could’ve passed for a meow in response, coming faintly from his left. Whirling around, he tried to find the source of the mews. All he saw was some dirt, a signpost, and a puddle. Still, he was _certain_ that the noise had come from this direction. Stepping closer to investigate, he realized that the mud puddle had eyes. Two glowing yellow ones, to be exact. 

Dummy was almost perfectly camouflaged, his grey fur stained mud brown as he just… _lounged_ in the puddle. He truly was the oddest cat Bucky had ever met. 

Bucky stared at Dummy. Dummy stared back. “You know what?” Bucky decided. “I’m gonna let your owner pick you up. He missed you, I’m sure he won’t mind the mud. He’s over here, Tony!”

Tony swooped in with a cry, grabbing Dummy out of the puddle with no care for his own cleanliness. “Oh, you stupid cat!” he cried, hugging the cat close. “I need to get you a leash, I swear.”

“I don’t think he’d enjoy that,” Bucky said wryly, unable to keep the smile off of his face at the reunion.

“Thank you, Bucky,” Tony turned the full force of his megawatt grin on Bucky, and Bucky felt himself melt a little more. Before Bucky could react, Tony was hugging him tightly, Dummy between them yowling in protest. Tony pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before stepping away to berate his cat again.

Bucky blinked, shocked. He tried to control his blush as he brought his hand up to his cheek, but he could tell he was unsuccessful.

“So, uh,” he cleared his throat. He figured he had to ask, lest he miss his chance. “Do you two want to come back to my apartment for dinner?”

“We’d love to,” Tony said. “Lead the way, oh noble cat finder!”

“But you’re giving that cat a bath,” Bucky shook his finger at the muddy cat. “Seriously. If he tracks mud into my apartment, I’m turning him into a mop.”

Tony laughed out loud. “A fitting punishment,” he conceded. “Don’t worry, Dummy and I will be on our best behavior.”

As Bucky followed Tony inside, he couldn’t help but to think that maybe, possibly, this could be the start of something.

\---

The next morning, Bucky woke up to Dummy’s self-satisfied mewling from outside the bedroom. He went to get out of bed, but a weight on his chest stopped him. Tony looked up at him with hair messy from sleep (and other activities), blinking his huge Bambi eyes. 

“Stay a little longer?” he purred, lips curling in a mischievous smile, like he already knew that Bucky wasn’t going anywhere.

“Someone’s gotta feed the cat,” Bucky protested half-heartedly, letting himself be dragged back down by Tony. 

Tony shrugged. “He can eat in half an hour,” he said.

“Oh, doll,” Bucky’s gaze filled with heat. “If you think I’m gonna be done with you in half an hour, you're dead wrong.”

Needless to say, Dummy got a late breakfast, though Bucky threw in some treats as an apology, despite Tony’s protests. He owed the cat one, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos make me happy :))
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and in this time of quarantine, i hope all of you are staying safe! wash your hands, maintain social distance, and dont hoard toilet paper! this cant last forever, hang in there <3


End file.
